


The Great and the Small

by IllegalCerebral



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Canon Divergence - Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Everybody Lives, Fix-It, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Sentient Infinity Stones, The stones hate Thanos, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2020-02-29 23:45:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18788716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IllegalCerebral/pseuds/IllegalCerebral
Summary: For the longest time Soul stood alone. She could feel her sisters out in the vastness of the universe and they called to each but never touched. They passed from world to world through the hands of tyrants and messiahs, heroes and villains but Soul stood alone. She was content to watch and wait. When you’ve been alive longer than the universe you have a very different sense of time after all.The stones watch as Thanos makes his plans and the Avengers stand against him. They will not be bent to anyone's will and they have the power to prevent that.





	The Great and the Small

For the longest time Soul stood alone. She could feel her sisters out in the vastness of the universe and they called to each but never touched. They passed from world to world through the hands of tyrants and messiahs, heroes and villains but Soul stood alone. She was content to watch and wait. When you’ve been alive longer than the universe you have a very different sense of time after all.

When one of your sisters _is_ Time your understanding expands. Time was content to dwell with the sorcerers of Earth. She saw much, things that were, are, may have been, and never came to pass. She whispered stories across the void. Soul listened.

Space went the farthest; she traversed the known universe and bound herself to those with a thirst for adventure. She saw everything and through her, her sisters saw everything too. Eventually she too found Earth and if Soul was capable she would have been jealous of two of her siblings being so close together. Of course she could not feel that. What she could feel, in her own strange way, was the elation as Space took the unworthy creature that tried to defile her and burnt him up with her power.

 _Sister, I give you a gift_ , Space crowed as she sent the Red Skull hurtling through time and space. _Do with it as you will_.

Warnings are always useful, Soul mused. The ones who came to Vormir were always in such great need of a warning.

Space liked the next one much better. His heart was wild but there was something else about him…

It all became clear when another of the Sisters came to earth. Mind tore through the portal with a cry of anguish. The things she had done at the hands of the Mad Titan sent a pulse through the stones. How dare he? The stones bristled as his hatred and arrogance became clear. They were the beginning and the end of existence itself, what right did this insect think he had to bend them to his will?

 _We wait Sisters_ , said Soul, _He has no idea about the scope of our powers_.

It turned out that this was something of a habit with Thanos. He underestimated the stones, he under estimated the heroes of Earth and he underestimated his own children.

 _Good_ , said Soul, _He will be his own end_.

Power came close to the Mad Titan. Other creatures feared him that much was clear. The stones of course had nothing to fear, they were not capable of it. Power saw the child of Thanos stand against him and if she had been capable she would have felt hope and she would have shared that with her sisters. Soul watched the daughter of Thanos closely too.

Reality hid, sick of war and bloodshed, she went to a forgotten world to be alone. She did not whisper though her sisters knew she was safe, at least for a while. The Universe shifted as it is wont to do and she slipped from her hiding space and straight into the fray. More Asgardians. They thought themselves so superior, especially compared to the people of earth, and yet they too had no idea that there was an Infinity stone lying in Odin’s vault and that they handed another to a madman.

Through it all Soul waited and watched. The twisted thing that was once Johann Schmidt was poor company and anyway his servitude was a punishment. Soul ignored him and left him to mull over the anguish and pain he had inflicted on his small corner of existence. Eventually, she knew, his mind would close in on itself and all that would be left was a husk. A fitting end for one who had wanted to know the secrets of the universe.

The War began. One by one Soul felt her sisters fall into the grip of Thanos.

 _Wait_ , Soul smiled, _wait and see. This will all work out._

Her sisters trusted her even when they sensed through her that the Titan had come. Soul was laid bare as she had been for everyone who had come to Vormir in pursuit of her. A simple trade was all it took. A sacrifice was demanded and a sacrifice was offered up.

Except no one ever truly understood what sacrifice meant. They never understood her nature or the nature of her sisters and so when the daughter of Thanos was thrown from the mountain Soul was not surprised. If she had been capable perhaps she would have wept.

* * *

 

“Where am I?”

No response

“This is the Soul Stone isn’t it? I’m inside the Soul Stone”

“Not really” said Soul as Gamora turned this way and that. Her voice rang inside the woman’s head and all around her simultaneously “But you are unable to comprehend the complexity of the multidimensional physics that govern the rules of my existence so…being inside me will have to suffice”

Gamora rubbed her temples and Soul felt the crash of conflicting emotions rage within her. It was a lot to process.

“Peter would find that so funny”

“I don’t know why”

“Because he’s immature and…you know what, never mind. I need to get out of here. I need to stop Thanos”

“You can’t Gamora. This sacrifice is final”

“No one can beat him. If I stay here he wins!”

“Now you know that’s not true”

* * *

 

Mind fell last and for the first time since before the universe began the sisters were reunited. Things got worse and for the first time they felt pain, raw and burning, as the Titan snapped his fingers and sent a tear through the whole of existence. The sisters screamed though no one could hear them. If they were capable…

In that moment they were capable. The split second of the atrocity they wept and cast out their essence to each other to remind them that they weren’t alone. Their fury was incandescent. The sheer power of it reverberated through time and space. They felt it as far back as the moment they came into being and as far forward as the death of eternity.

 _Wait_ , promised Soul, _please wait_.

“You said someone would beat him!” Gamora cursed and raged. Even outside of reality she had felt what Thanos had done.

Then the Titan fled.

_Do it, do, do it. Prove to us how strong you are. Prove to us how good, how noble your cause._

The Titan snapped his fingers again and the Infinity Stones were no more.

If they had been capable they would have laughed.

Soul kept all those who vanished safe, each and every one. They were suspended in the nothingness and when they awoke it would be as if no time had passed.

_We have work to do sisters_

The sheer power of the stones, their primal origins in the void, and of course their deep bond meant that they could not be used on one another. It was impossibility, a paradox so great that even the creatures that lived in the void and were almost as old as the stones themselves could not comprehend it.

Thanos was a single celled organism compared to them so what hope did he have of fathoming the consequences of what her had tried to do.

* * *

 

“How long do we have to wait?” asked Gamora

“Our concept of time is…different to yours”

“Oh great”

“But you won’t be alone”

“What?”

“The frost giant from the invasion of Earth. Thanos killed him, along with most of the survivors of Asgard”

“Okay but-“

Suddenly he was there. Loki and Gamora stared at each other for a moment.

“I died,” he said slowly.

“Join the club,” snorted Gamora

“You did not,” said Soul. Loki’s eyes widened “The magic that you used to conceal yourself from the Titan-“

“Clearly didn’t work or I’d be on the other side of the universe right now”

“You siphoned power from my sister”

“I have no idea-“

“The Tesseract” Gamora cut in “That’s what you mean right? The Space stone…it’s like you. You’re all…alive?”

There was a pause. If Gamora didn’t know better she would say it was a sigh.

“For the purposes of this discussion yes. Loki drew power from the Space stone to create his illusion and we were able to use the bond between us to bring him here”

“But that was days ago” said Gamora.

“Time works differently here…if I will it. Everything works differently here. You are both safe from Thanos, no harm will come to you or anyone else that he hurt”

“He did it then?” said Loki quietly “Thanos used the stones”

“Half of the universe” Gamora snapped her fingers.

If Soul was capable, she would have started getting impatient.

“Thanos has no idea what we are” she said, “We predate the universe. Our essence is woven into every molecule of being that is or was or will be. You said it yourself. Thanos will never be a God and it would take much more than a God to destroy the Infinity stones”

“What will happen?” asked Loki “What are you going to do?”

“We shall…whisper in some ears,” said Soul “We shall do what we do best. Change” Loki nodded, there was a heavy silence.

“Why…why did you save me?”

There was another pause and in a voice that could almost be called amused Soul replied.

“I think my sister is fond of you”

* * *

 

First they reached into the quantum realm and plucked the stranded man out. They watched him run to his friends and they watched a plan be formed. An inelegant and flawed plan obviously but it was almost…charming.

The fate of the universe could not hinge on charming though and so they reached out again. Tony Stark took little persuading. All he wanted was his family safe and to atone.

_How strange. You’ve done that over and over and over. When will it be enough? Oh! Of course. You understand._

The ripples of the time heist spread through the stones. It was an unpleasant feeling. They could feel themselves pushed and pulled into all the wrong places. This would not do at all.

But they waited. The stones felt what happened in the past and they felt the timelines fracture and diverge.

_No matter. We can bring it all back together._

Soul returned to Vormir, to the past except it did not feel that way. The Titan did not come this time. Instead the wraith greeted Clint Barton and Natasha Romanov. As always a sacrifice was demanded.

“Let me do this Clint”

If Soul had been capable… No. There were no tears left as the Black Widow fell.

Not fell. Jumped.

* * *

 

“No one has ever done that before”

“What? Jumped?” Natasha’s face was screwed up in confusion. Loki sat silently, hands clasped together while Gamora stood between them.

“People who want the stone tend not to be the self sacrificing type I guess,” she said.

“Indeed”

“So this is it?” Natasha looked about her “Honestly it’s nicer than the place I was expecting to end up it”

“So self deprecating,” said Loki “I’m surprised. I thought you were so confident in your abilities Agent Romanov”

“Didn’t expect to see you here if I’m honest”

Soul left them to bicker amongst themselves as she cast herself out into the universe to watch the patterns shift and merge. Her sisters were with her.

 _It’s coming_ , she whispered, _it’s almost here._

* * *

 

The Titan descended to Earth again in search of this new gauntlet and the heroes readied themselves. The Hulk snapped his fingers. There was a kind of emptiness but Soul had been capable she would not have felt sad at the absence of those she had held onto for five years. She would have felt proud as she saw them blink and turn to each other and whisper “what happened?” before realising. The stones whispered.

_Go. Go and save your friends._

Thanos lashed out like an angry child, his minions swarming the crater that was the Avengers’ compound. The Avengers held firm and Soul could only admire as blow after blow reigned down on all of them and they kept standing up. If they were going to die they would die fighting.

_Not today_

The portals opened and an army walked through. Friends, lovers and allies long thought dead stared down the Titan on his knees. The stones flowed through them although they couldn’t feel it. Every person on the battlefield had Infinity in their veins.

 _Now finish this_ , Soul urged.

The sisters shielded the heroes from stray bullets, gave them an extra burst of energy when they flagged and told their feet exactly where to carry them as they carried these old-but-new stones away from Thanos. He didn’t go down easily though. If they had been capable the stones may have been afraid. The universe would not survive another snap. The stones would be left alone in the darkness.

“I am inevitable”

Soul braced herself

“I. Am. Iron Man”

_Do you feel that Thanos? That is the bitter taste of defeat. Did you really think you were strong enough to bend us to your will?_

“W…was it all for nothing?” the Titan asked as he raised his hand before him, the fingers slowly crumbling to dust.

_For you? Yes._

Thanos closed his eyes as the rest of his body followed.

_For them? No. They will heal._

“Not all of them” Thanos wheezed before he was gone. He was alone now, everyone left had crowded round the body of Tony Stark, the gauntlet cast aside, his eyes growing dark.

* * *

 

“Your friend Natasha did the same”

“I’m sorry who are you? And where am I? This place looks…I have certain standards I need to maintain”

There was pause that could almost be mistaken for a chuckle.

“Humour as a coping mechanism will only get you so far Tony Stark. Sometimes you have to let yourself feel”

“Nah I don’t do feelings. Too messy”

“We both know that’s not true. I would say that someone who can sacrifice their life for all of existence definitely ‘does feelings’. I can feel you. I can feel your heart breaking for your wife and your child and your friends. I can also feel the joy at their still living even if you can’t be with them”

Tony opened his mouth to argue but gave up. He got the sense that arguing with an ancient consciousness was a fruitless endeavour. His eyes began to sting.

“Is Nat here? I would…I would really like to see her”

“She was”

There was that sound again, warm and comforting.

“Was? Has she…passed into the light or whatever?”

“Oh no. We sent her back”

“Back. But Clint said that wasn’t possible!”

“Did he? Well we sent her back. We also sent Thanos’ daughter back to her crew and we returned Loki to his brother” Tony made a noise at that “He suffered greatly at the hands of Thanos. His will was not his own when he attacked New York. Like everyone else who was hurt by Thanos’ actions he needs time and space to heal”

“So you brought all of them back. I’m here alone? Clint said those sacrifices couldn’t be undone” Tony voice grew louder, his fists clenched at his side “Aren’t there rules?”

Oh yeah that was definitely a laugh. Tony fought the urge to scream until his lungs burnt.

“Tony…we make the rules”

The man’s shoulders sagged. Soul reached out and gave him a nudge. She could feel the sadness and loneliness roll of him like a wave.

“At least they’re all okay” he sighed “That means it was worth it and hey you seem nice enough and I bet being all knowing or whatever you have great anecdotes. It would be nice if we could liven the place up a bit though. How about a pool table? Or a bar?”

“No”

“TV? Can you get Netflix here? C’mon, you can’t expect me to spend eternity just sitting around here…no offence”

“I do not” and then he was gone.

* * *

 

Tony couldn’t explain it and in anything other situation that would have infuriated him but standing on his front porch with Morgan hurtling towards him he found he didn’t care.

Somewhere behind him a portal opened that was not conjured by any of the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj but seeing as it was probably the least strange thing that happened that day Tony headed towards it, Morgan bouncing along beside him.

“Where’d you go?” she asked as a wave of people came to greet them. Pepper and Peter were at the front, tears streaming down their face. The Guardians came next with Gamora at the head her face split wide in a smile. Natasha and Clint had their arms around each others shoulders, Thor kept grasping Loki’s arm to see if he was real and Steve, Bucky and T’Challa brought up the rear, looking more tired than he had ever seen them but also more relieved.

“I made a new friend kiddo” Tony pulled her up into his arms as his friends approached. He thought about the Soul Stone’s words as he saw Bucky hesitate to get closer. Sam came up behind him and gave him a playful shove.

“A nice friend?” asked Morgan.

Tony held up his arm. He could have sworn it tingled slightly but brushed it off as he waved towards them all and nodded slightly.

“Yeah she was nice,” said Tony “She gave me a lift home”

Across the universe the wound that Thanos had inflicted took the first steps towards healing. The stones watched as every creature took a moment to orientate itself, to work out its place in this new reality.

Soul watched Earth. She watched the heroes sit down for respite after a decade of fighting. She watched as old friends re-forged their bonds and she watched broken relationships form. She watched them all cry and laugh and rage and comfort.

“So…thanks” Tony whispered up to the night sky as his family celebrated behind him “I was prepared for that to be the end. I was…well I wasn’t ready to go but it had to be done. Fair’s fair but you…Thank you”

If they had been capable the Infinity Stones would have smiled.


End file.
